The next generation of VW's perennial Golf, due here in the middle of next year, shows ample promise. In all its guises, Greg Kable reports, it faces plenty of competition.

Series five Golf comes to the fore, while Smart powers up

The next generation of VW's perennial Golf, due here in the middle of next year, shows ample promise. In all its guises, Greg Kable reports, it faces plenty of competition.

Volkswagen has released official photographs of its crucial fifth-generation Golf.

The all-new hatchback, planned for a public debut in three- and five-door guises at the Frankfurt motor show in September, goes on sale in Europe later in the year with Australian sales starting in the second half of 2004.

Its familiar yet restyled panels cloak a wealth of upgrades aimed at seeing the new car add to the astonishing 22 million sales logged by the Golf since its launch in 1974.

Among the key hatchback rivals are the Ford Focus, Opel Astra, Renault Megane and Peugeot 306. VW's new hope also will find itself under fire from the second-generation Mercedes-Benz A Class, the Audi A3 and the eagerly anticipated BMW 1 Series.

There are moderate increases in dimensions over today's car, first seen in 1997. The new model is 57mm longer, 24mm wider and 39mm taller.

In line with VW's reputation for the classiest cabins of any volume car maker, the new Golf has a high quality interior with increased accommodation (VW claims there is 8mm more front headroom and 65mm rear).

Among the options are climate control air-conditioning with separate controls for the driver and front passenger, and seats with four-way electric lumbar support.

Safety is also high on the agenda. Standard on all models are six airbags, electronic stability control and anti-lock brakes.

There is a wide range of four-cylinder petrol engines. In a significant move, all but the base engine have VW's advanced direct injection technology, which is claimed to reduce fuel consumption and cut emissions to levels that meet the latest European Union regulations.

Australian cars are expected to have 1.6- and 2.0-litre direct fuel injection versions.

A range-topping 188kW 3.2 V6 (not available initially) is set to see service in a replacement for the R32 flagship model, a Subaru Impreza rival.

The fourth generation R32, incidentally, will go on sale in Australia early next year.

As with today's model, the new Golf will come in front- and all-wheel-drive variants -- the latter will be mainly high-end models.

The new Golf rides on a platform already used in the impressive new Audi A3 and VW's Europe-only Touran people-mover. The front end retains a space-saving strut suspension -- but the big news is the rear four-link arrangement, replacing the torsion beam that has been a staple since the original Golf.

Thanks to the new suspension -- and the steel body's massive 80 per cent increase in rigidity -- the new Golf's dynamic behaviour should improve significantly.

Smart biturbo banks on a double

Smart has given its Roadster -- due here in November -- a massive power boost, thanks to one of the world's smallest V6s.

The Roadster V6 biturbo's new 1.4-litre -- created by joining two of Smart's familiar turbo 700cc three-cylinder engines with a common crankshaft -- fills the tiny boot.

The result is an ultra compact 18-valve engine producing 127kW (7kW more than its supercharged Mercedes C200 stablemate) and 220Nm.

With a kerb weight of just 833kg, the two-seater's weight-to-power ratio is 6.7kg/kW -- eclipsing that of the Porsche Boxster S.

It will accelerate from 0-100kmh in less than 6.0 seconds, on to a top speed of 220kmh, according to Smart spokesman, Hubert Kogel.

With the tiny, potent V6, Smart joins the club of unconventional engines. VW Group, for example, makes a V5, a narrow-angle V6 and a W12.

Smart's hot car partner, German tuning house Brabus, engineered the new model and has built eight examples to be driven at the centenary celebrations of the Solitude race circuit outside Stuttgart later this month.

Smart says there are no plans to put the reworked Roadster into production. There are strong suggestions, however, that the V6 could be used in a soft-roader derived from Smart's four-seat ForFour, due in 2006.